Do you know who passed this way? A Benedictine oblate blog

"Six days before [St. Benedict] died he gave orders for his tomb to be opened. Almost immediately he was seized with a violent fever that rapidly wasted his remaining energy. Each day his condition grew worse until finally on the sixth day he had his disciples carry him into the chapel, where he received the Body and Blood of our Lord to gain strength for his approaching end. Then, supporting his weakened body on the arms of his brethren, he stood with his hands raised to heaven and as he prayed he breathed his last.

"That day two monks, one of them at the monastery, the other some distance away, received the very same revelation. They both saw a magnificent road covered with rich carpeting and glittering with thousands of lights. From his monastery it stretched eastward in a straight line until it reached up into heaven. And there in the brightness stood a man of majestic appearance, who asked them, 'Do you know who passed this way?' 'No,' they replied. 'This,' he told them, 'is the road taken by blessed Benedict, the Lord's beloved, when he went to heaven.'"

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Quote from, “Life and Miracles of St. Benedict,” (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, n.d.) Adapted and quoted in "Benedictine Daily Prayer," p. 1830.

Picture is The Snowflake Cluster versus the Cone Nebula Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, P. S. Teixeira (CfA). Astronomy Picture of the Day.